Automatic swimming pool cleaners of the type that move about the underwater surfaces of a swimming pool are driven by many different kinds of systems. A variety of different pool-cleaner devices in one way or another harness the flow of water, as it is drawn or pushed through the pool cleaner by the pumping action of a remote pump for debris collection purposes.
Suction automatic pool cleaners are very successful when there is fine debris or debris that become soft in water. This fine debris is sucked up by the cleaner and deposited into a pump basket, or other debris-collection device, and the really fine debris passes into the pool filter. An example of a suction cleaner is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,148 (Rief et al.), entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Suction automatic swimming pool cleaners are used in places with much sand and slit. Although suction cleaners can take leafy debris once it has softened in the pool, large debris such as large acorns and hard leafs would plug up a suction cleaner. Suction swimming pool cleaners are also limited to the debris size due to loss of suction if the inlet and/or outlet orifices are widened to accommodate such large debris and of the possibility of large debris clogging the pool pipes.
Conversely, pressure automatic swimming pool cleaners are very successful when there is large debris such as leaves and acorns, these large debris are pulled off the pool surface by virtue of a venturi effect and are placed into a debris-collection device, such as a bag, above the cleaner. An example of a pressure cleaner is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,578 (Rief et al.), entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
With a pressure swimming pool cleaner, the limitation is the opposite to the suction cleaner. In removing very large debris from the swimming pool, a pressure cleaner uses a collection bag. Regardless of how fine the bag is, sand and slit can pass through the bag back into the pool.
The problem is that most often only one cleaner is used in a pool. Therefore, people have either a suction cleaner or a pressure cleaner. Many swimming-pool builders place a suction cleaner into a pool when it is built. This is because there is no real landscaping around the pool at the time of the cleaner installation. However, just few years later, when trees and bushes have grown up, the debris becomes overwhelming and constantly plugs the suction cleaner.
Still with the pressure cleaner, no matter how large debris is in the pool, there is always sand and slit from cement and other elements of the surrounding environment. Such fine debris will pass through the debris-collection bag back into the pool. Although some swimming pool pressure cleaners have tails that supposedly whip the debris toward the main drain, in reality such tails only bring the dirt into suspension until it falls back on the pool bottom to start the process all over again.
Attempts have been made to utilize both a suction power and a pressure flow from remote pumps by the same swimming pool cleaner apparatus.
Another common flaw of pool cleaners is the debris collector which typically presents certain maintenance difficulties. More specifically, when the cleaner operates as a suction cleaner, the debris collector is typically connected to the hoses. This presents a hindrance to the movement of the cleaner and the hoses. Moreover, such in-line debris collectors are typically located in awkward positions in the pool and are difficult to clean.
It would have been highly beneficial to a suction-cleaner debris collector which is easy to install and maintain and which keeps the pump basket clear of debris.
Pressure cleaners are known to use flexible nylon bags typically made from a soft material. They also have a tendency to be caught under the cleaner wheels and be damaged. These bags have to be replaced frequently due to tearing and other damage caused by manhandling and improper installation of the bag, including chemical damage to the material of the bag.
Furthermore, while flexible bags may trap some fine debris, most of slit and dirt flows back into the pool. Flexible bags are hard to clean due to their collapsible nature. In order to clean the bag, one has to open up a zipper, hook-and-loop or slide-on-T closure. Most often dirt gets logged into these closures making it difficult to clean the closures and the bag.
In the pool, flexible bags act like sails and are a hindrance to pool-cleaner movement. When the bag is full of debris, the balance is lost and the bag falls over, may get caught under cleaner's wheels and obstructs free movement of the cleaner. Once the bag falls over, cleaning ability of the cleaner is lost, but the cleaner may still attempt to move thereby damaging the bag and making it increasingly difficult to clean or replace the damaged bag.
It is desirable to have a pressure-cleaner debris collector with an increased debris capacity, easy to install and to clean, which gives the cleaner improved buoyancy, and is durable and long lasting.